WR Ben Obomanu stood out at the morning practice, so much so that coach Mike Holmgren stopped to give him a compliment on his practice. How's that for a gold star administered to the star pupil.

There was a brief tussle between offensive lineman Ray Willis and defensive end Baraka Atkins, as the two stayed engaged after the play moved away. Neither hit the ground, though, and there wasn't anything more than a two men holding onto each other's jerseys.

Lance Laury made two tips in a seven-on-seven passing drill. Laury is a big, physical run-stopper and improving the pass defense is important because Laury must be ready to step up for an injury with the departures of Niko Koutouvides and Kevin Bentley in free agency.

The morning practice concluded with 11-on-11 red-zone drills, and the offense scored on its first two possessions, first with a pass to Ben Obomanu from Matt Hasselbeck and then Seneca Wallace finding Jordan Kent for a score.

The biggest celebration of the morning practice? That was Matt Hasselbeck who outran Brandon Mebane to the corner, turned upfield and reached the end zone with a pronounced spike.

New absences from practice: TE Will Heller and WR Michael Bumpus suffered from tight hamstrings. Samuel Gutekunst -- the team's international-squad allotment -- is also not practicing because of an undisclosed injury.

Still absent from the practice field: Ryan Plackemeier, Deion Branch and Marcus Tubbs remain on the physically unable to perform list. LB Will Herring is still out with a non-football injury.